whatever be the date of release, no one wants to compete with the biggest names in the Tamil film industry.
Movies that waited for the World Cup and the exams to finish could now settle for a safer bet - to release their films well before or after Shivaji.
Director Pushkar has planned to released his movie Oram Po only much after Shivaji hits the theatres.
"The guys who are distributing Shivaji will get the best theatres, so for a small film to come in at this point of time, business-wise it becomes a little difficult to get good theatres or even good hoardings," says he.
Distributor's say that Shivaji's producers may go for 12 to 15 prints in A-grade theatres, literally leaving over a dozen others waiting to release their movies with not much choice but to release it before or after the release of the Rajnikanth starrer.
While the producers of Mayakannadi hope to release the film in mid-April to give it a fortnight's run before Shivaji releases, producers of other films such as Oram po and Solli Adippein have decided to play it safe releasing their films a little after Shivaji's hits the theatres.
And a Rajnikanth starrer would also mean that it's time for most movies released in the last two months such as Vijay's Pokkiri to shift to B-grade theatres.
Said to be made at a budget of Rs 60 crore, Shivaji would quite easily qualify as the most expensive film ever made in Tamil cinema, but a delay in its release is proving to be expensive for many other small budget movies.
